


But Enemies to Lovers is So Cliché!

by maladaptive0daydreamer



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: ...eventually, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, LOOOOOONG, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn, but that's if i dont die after chapter 3, conductor (will eventually be) an oblivious idiot, i like to torture these characters, like hoping around 30k at some point, longfic, more tags to be added probably, relationship, snatcher might show up eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-05-28 18:50:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19400236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maladaptive0daydreamer/pseuds/maladaptive0daydreamer
Summary: So much went unsaid in their relationship, but The Conductor always felt like they were on the same page. Not that he’d ever admit that to a peck neck like DJ Grooves, of course!





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was burning particularly hot that day, and it was going straight under the owl’s skin. Adjusting his collar once more, The Conductor continued along the barren trail back to his workplace/home. Just the thought of what he would have to do today was already driving him crazy, and the scorching weather of the surrounding desert wasn’t really helping. He gazed up at the pale sky, hoping to catch sight of a cloud or two that might eventually provide him with some relief. However, it seemed the universe was unwilling to give him even that. 

As early in the morning as it was, a few stray stars could still be seen. In a brief moment of calm, the bird’s thoughts turned to the reason of today’s torture. She’d left about a week ago, almost as abruptly as she’d arrived. The Conductor barely even got to say goodbye, seeing her for the last time while clinging to the edge of her ship. He clenched his fist and trudged along faster, kicking up an unnecessary amount of sand and dust as he went, cursing himself for being so emotional in that moment. Saying things he shouldn’t have.

Making regrettable promises.

Upon coming to the front doors of Dead Bird Studios, Conductor found himself hesitating. The following weeks would probably be the longest in his career. Having to deal with DJ Grooves on a day-to-day basis was bad as it was, and he could barely stomach the mere thought of working alongside him. For pecks sake, how did he talk himself into this waking nightmare?

After a few more moments of self-pity, The Conductor mentally slapped himself into focus. Making a movie with that awful moon penguin might be the worst thing he’s ever done, but the disappointment he was sure the lass would feel would be so much worse. Inhibitions aside, he was a bird of his word, and he was going to follow through with this if it killed him. Which it probably would, at least emotionally.

With a deep breath, the owl shoved the impending dread into the pit of his stomach, and stormed into the studio as usual. Hearing the door bang against the wall, the express owls scurried off the benches, eyeing their boss warily. The moon penguins didn’t even glance up, their attention focused towards the reception desk. Following their gaze, the owl’s eyes fell on his long-time rival. He was leaning on the section of desk closer to his side of the studio, fiddling with a button on his gaudy coat. For a minute, The Conductor was struck out of the haze of his anger just from how uncharacteristically DJ Grooves was acting. He almost seemed to be shrinking into himself, shoulders tense and mic swinging loosely from his flipper. The door slammed shut, and the penguin startled, quickly regaining his composure as he spotted the other bird.

“Conductor, Darling! So nice of you to finally make it!” He pushed himself off the counter and strode leisurely over, any sign of his previous mood gone. The Conductor hissed at the immediate jab, tail feathers whipping against the edge of his coat, for once saying nothing in retaliation. The silence hung dangerously in the air, as if they were waiting for a bomb to go off. Some of the express owls even began taking cover in fear of this being one of their more…active…arguments. But no, not today. If they got into yet another fight right off the bat, there was no way they’d ever be able to make a whole movie together. He had to hold himself together for the lass.

“Come on, darling, the silent treatment isn’t like you at all,” he paused, stiffening slightly before going on. “After all, we have something to announce to our actors, don’t we?”

Grimacing, The Conductor nodded, and turned to his end of the reception. Most of the express owls had come out of hiding by now, shocked by how little yelling just occurred. The other end of the room broke out into gasps and muttering as DJ Grooves spoke his piece. He supposed that the idea of a collaboration would be just as jarring to the moon penguins and express owls as it was to their respective directors. For a moment, he froze, wondering if the express owls might struggle as well. Those moon penguins were protective of DJ Grooves; they might give the owls a hard time just for working with his rival…

Shaking his thoughts loose, The Conductor stepped forward to address his crew. Nothing could be done about it for now. That was a bridge he’d cross if it came to it.

~~~~~

“Darling, darling, you can’t be serious!”

“Of course I am, you peck neck!”

“Darling, if we make yet another drab old western, this can hardly be considered a collaboration at all!”

“Oh, and like you didn’t wanna do the exact same thing with your flashy, plotless nonsense!”

After announcing the new project to the actors, the two directors had gone off to a quieter part of the studio to begin working on the script. Two hours in and they couldn’t even agree on the basics. The Conductor sank into his hands as DJ Grooves shot something back in his defense. How did they ever think this would work? They’d been at each other’s throats for years, there was no way they could just shove it all behind them and ignore it. He really should just call the whole thing off and leave-

…No. He promised the lass. He promised her he’d try and make a movie with DJ Grooves, just once. There was no way he could just toss up his hands on the first day and give up. That wouldn’t be fair to her, he’d barely even tried-

“You’re just old-fashioned, you know that, darling? I suggest a setting with a bit more creativity than a desert exactly like the one we live in and you-“

Not that DJ Grooves was gonna make this easy for him.

~~~~~

It had taken about three more hours of bickering back and forth before they both got too pissed to be reasonable and threw in the towel for the day. Even then, nothing substantial had gotten done. The Conductor stormed back to his side of the studio, slamming every door he passed through. He finally arrived at his makeshift bar, which was really just a small storage room with dusty chairs and boxes of props with tarps over them to mimic a table. Also booze. Lots and lots of booze.

Without looking, he grabbed a bottle from off the shelf and collapsed into a chair. He struggled with the cork, the day’s interactions flashing through his head. He knew Grooves would be like this, he was always like this! The edge of the bottle clinked against the armrest. This entire project was going to be a disaster, how was he going to survive it? The wooden chair creaked underneath his movements. Oh god, he’d brought up award forty-two, why did he do that, why did he bring up award forty-two-

The cork popped off violently and The Conductor swung back well over half the bottle in one breath. The screaming thoughts and regrets inside him quieted to a dull ache, and his head fell back against the wall.

He had a long, long road ahead of him.


	2. Chapter 2

He’d been hovering outside this doorway for far too long.

The Conductor wrung his hands as he glared at the doorknob. It was ridiculous to be hanging around outside as long as he had, and it was ridiculous to feel as worried as he did right now. Surely, only so much fighting and bickering could drag on before they both got tired and settled on something. This logic did little to ease his churning stomach, however, and his feathered hand longed for a bottle in its grasp. He shook this thought off quickly; the more he focused on it, the more he’d want it, and then he’d never be able to get anything done.

The Conductor shoved himself through the door before his thoughts could get any more convoluted. DJ Grooves was already there, sitting in the same chair of the meeting room he was in yesterday. His beak rested on his flipper, expression unreadable underneath his star-shaped shades. It was rare to see the penguin quiet or pensive, but any surprise was quickly overshadowed by annoyance. The peck neck hadn’t even acknowledged him!

“And now yer ignoring me, eh? The silent treatment isn’t gonna fix anything!”

DJ Grooves jumped, swinging around to face the owl. He quickly composed himself, straightening out his jacket while he returned to his relaxed nonchalance.

“Conductor!” The penguin barked out in clearly forced laughter. “I didn’t hear you come in.” 

The Conductor glanced at the dent in the wall his slammed door left, then skeptically back at DJ Grooves. Fidgeting with his microphone, the penguin swiftly turned his attention to the center of the table, where he had a few blank sheets of paper laid out. One of them was covered in eraser marks and had small tears in a couple places.

“Now then!” DJ Grooves began abruptly, brushing off the eraser shavings. “We…don’t have much to work with from yesterday, after….everything…” 

The Conductor instinctively bristled at the slight notion of an insult. Fists clenching, he remarked, “And whose fault do ye think that is, peck neck?! If you hadn’t-“

“Me? Oh, of course it’s all my fault! What about you?! You’re the one who’s so stuck in your ways! I-“ He stopped abruptly when his flippers hit the table, crumbling the paper underneath them. After a beat, his eyes squeezed shut and brows furrowed. 

He inhaled.

Then exhaled. 

His eyes opened again, and finally looked back at his rival. The Conductor nearly flinched, now the sole focus of that same unreadable, emotion-filled expression from yesterday. 

“Conductor, darling, we can’t keep doing this. We’re getting nowhere.”

The owl didn’t really want to agree with anything that came out of that penguin’s beak, but he knew he was right. All they did yesterday was go around in circles, and they were about the enter that cycle yet again. This is exactly what the lass was hoping to put a stop to when she wanted them to make their promise in the first place. If they were going to keep trying for her sake, they couldn’t keep doing exactly what she hated. Silently, The Conductor moved across the room and shifted into the chair opposite to the former DJ. 

It made every organ in his body churn, but he finally admitted, “…Yer right. We need to work something out.” Looking around for some grounds of negotiation, his sight landed on the lead-smudged paper. “What did ye have before?”

DJ Grooves immediately tensed, eyes shooting from his paper to the owl. “I, uh…ha, what?” he stammered. The Conductor blinked; what had him freaking out?

“Well, ye had something written, but erased it, ya?” He gestured to the torn holes and few stray eraser shavings. 

DJ Grooves swept the paper up and crumpled it in his flippers before haphazardly chucking it at the waste bin, maintaining shaky eye contact the whole time. The Conductor watched on in stunned silence.

“Well, erased ideas tend to be bad ideas, don’t they?” DJ Grooves was speaking far too fast. The owl began to object-a bad idea was better than nothing, wasn’t it? It was at least a start-but the penguin urgently waved him off, now refusing to look in his direction altogether. “Now then, darling, we can at least brainstorm, can’t we? We both do that all the time.” He got up from his chair and approached the whiteboard behind him, flicking the cap off of a marker. “Any ideas? Anything at all? Whatever comes to mind, darling.”

An entire minute of complete silence trickled by, DJ Grooves’ marker at ready for words that never came. They both become increasingly aware of how long they’d been in this room.

The Conductor’s head slammed on the table. “I’m too sober for this.” he growled. With an indignant sniff, DJ Grooves spun on his heel and marched back to the table, flippers gripping the oak edges the second he was within reach.

“Come on, Conductor, I don’t wanna be here all night!”

“Well, I don’t see you offering anything up either!” he shot back.

“You’re always bragging about your plot lines and story arcs! Just come up with something!”

“It’s not that easy, ye peck neck! And there’s your half to take into consideration, too!”

“It can’t be that difficult to mix and match, darling! Just…just-anything, two concepts! Something to fit both of us, the bare minimum, the basics!-“

DJ Grooves was leaning across the table, far too close for The Conductor’s comfort. It was more intense than he was used to from him-way more intense-and he started to panic.

“Space train!” He blurted out.

The silence hung heavy in the air. The Conductor was pressed up against the back of his chair.

Dj Grooves’ head fell forward with a snort, which become chuckling, then full blown laughter. The owl quickly found himself in hysterics as well, because honestly, what??? They both laughed loud and long, the stress and exhaustion of everything catching up to both of them. Still laughing in bursts, DJ Grooves turned and wrote “Space Train” on the whiteboard in noticeably wobbly letters.

“There,” the former DJ declared, clicking the cap back on the marker and slamming it down decisively. “Perfect!"

Trying to hold back his own giggling-and he would deny it was giggling ‘till his dying day-The Conductor stuck a hand out. “Wait, wha-no, don’t put that down!”

“Too late, darling. It’s there. It’s in writing.” His cackling had subsided, but a grin remained plastered on his face. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he added, “Besides, it’s late, and we really need to have something by today. I’m usually ready with a prop list by now during my own productions, so some of the moon penguins are probably waiting for me in the reception to send the order out.”

“And yer gonna order props with only ‘space train’ to work with?!” The Conductor asked with no small amount of amusement. “I’m sure whatever ye had on that paper was better.” The corners of DJ Grooves’ mouth twitched, but the smile stayed.

“It wasn’t, darling. It really wasn’t.”

~~~~~

They parted ways outside the meeting room. If DJ Grooves wanted to use such a ridiculous excuse of a movie concept to conjure up a list of props, he could fumble through it by himself. Even if things had been better that night, The Conductor knew it wouldn’t last. Any peace between them never did.

Some inner part of him soured, but he tried not to think too much on it as he dragged himself to his room for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Haven't done one of these for this fic before!
> 
> First of all, I wanted to thank you all so much for your wonderful comments and support. You guys have given me so much energy and made shoveling through this fic so much easier. (This is my first slowburn after all!)
> 
> Thank you all so much for all the kudos, comments, and everything else!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Honestly, The Conductor wasn’t sure what he was expecting.

Crates upon crates were scattered across the reception, some splayed out in poorly executed piles while others leaned haphazardly against the walls in stacks far too tall to be convenient. The two delivery birds were rightfully pissed about having to unload all that crap alone, and DJ Grooves had yet to make an appearance that morning, leaving The Conductor to deal with his mess.

For the third time in the past few minutes, The Conductor’s head spun around, completely awed by the atrocious state of the room. Two words. He’d given him two words. How could he possibly have come up with this many props with only two words to work with? They already had a perfectly good train to begin with, so were all these props related to space? …Ooh, that bastard better not even think about replacing his train-

The Conductor’s thoughts were interrupted by a clipboard being shoved into his chest by the more aggravated of the two delivery birds. Cursing under his breath, the director fumbled with the pen. When DJ Peck Neck finally decided to show his face, he was going to have a few words with him. Maybe more than a few, now that he knew the cost of all this crap. Honestly, what was he thinking, spending that kind of money on props? Sure, they’d be splitting the cost on this one. but what about all the other expenses? What about paying the actors and crew, what about keeping the set from falling apart, what about the pecking studio’s bills?!

That last thought caused The Conductor to punch a hole in the paper at the end of his signature. Hands shaking, he dropped the clipboard back into the arms of the delivery bird and spun on his heel, storming towards DJ Grooves’ section of the studio and ignoring the glares boring into the back of his skull. A telltale crack echoed in the empty air as the door snapped against the concrete wall.

“DJ Groooooooveees!” He screeched, “What the hell were ye thinking with these props?!” He was answered only by the hollow creaking of the old studio. All of the lights were off, and there wasn’t a single penguin to be seen. Confused, the owl gingerly stepped into the room and hit the lights. DJ Grooves’ side of the studio looked as it always did; completely chaotic, with no rhyme or reason as to why wildly different props were situated next to each other. For example, the cowboy hat resting on top of a pile of records.

The whole set seemed so…unnatural, being this empty and quiet. The few times Conductor had been directly on his competitor’s set-as much as he tried to avoid the place-it had always been filled with flashing lights and the hushed mumbling of the moon penguins over their phones, with DJ Grooves’ voice booming above everything else. A burning sense of dread crawled up The Conductor’s throat, and he continued on with renewed purpose. Something was wrong.

He should’ve known it before. As unorganized as DJ Grooves could be, he was almost always at work on time. He loved his job. He wouldn’t avoid the delivery of his own movie props, even if it meant dealing with his rival. The Conductor passed by their usual meeting room at first, but then shuffled to a halt. It was unlikely but…he really should check, just in case. After hesitating for a moment, the owl cautiously opened the door and glanced inside.

DJ Grooves was at the table, sitting in the seat The Conductor has used yesterday. His head was down, beak resting on his flipper as he stared blankly ahead. His glasses rested dejectedly on the side of the table. It was the same look he’d been hiding for the past couple of days, but now was the worst The Conductor had seen it. He found himself gawking at his rival’s eyes, something he hadn’t seen for years. Without the shades shielding them, his eyes gave away just how much whatever internal conflict he was facing distressed him. Without thinking, The Conductor quietly stepped into the room, letting the door click shut behind him. DJ Grooves didn’t move.

“Is he looking for me yet?” DJ Grooves inquired suddenly, still fixated on the same spot on the wall. “Could you stall him?” His voice was soft and low. His eyes had fallen shut.

The Conductor, brows raised, could only offer a, “…what?”

The penguin’s eyes shot open, but he still didn’t move.

“Conductor?” Grooves asked, the normalcy in his voice clearly faked. “…Sorry darling, I thought you were one of the moon penguins.” He reached for his sunglasses and slid them onto his face, his expression now unreadable once again. 

“…Okay,” The Conductor marched forward until he was standing directly in front of his rival, arms crossed. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, darling.” DJ Groves responded, the epitome of his usual self. The Conductor’s eyes narrowed.

“You really think yer gonna fool me with that?” The owl leaned forward in hopes of appearing more intimidating, but with the height DJ Grooves had on him from up in the chair, it was kind of impossible. “Clearly, something’s wrong. First of all, yer always in the main part of the studio by now. Especially when yer expecting a shipment of props. Secondly, ye can’t just pretend what you said when I walked in didn’t happen. Why are you trying to avoid me?” The Conductor inwardly cringed in how much anger came out in his voice during that last sentence.

The corners of DJ Grooves’ mouth tightened. “It’s nothing.”

The ends of The Conductor’s talons were digging into his palms. “Oh, so now we’re back to the silent treatment, eh?”

The penguin inhaled through his teeth, “Darling!-…Leave it alone.”

“We’ve still got a movie to make, Grooves! Ye can’t just start ignoring me now!”

“Conductor,” the former DJ warned, voice emotionless. “Drop. It.”

“No!” Conductor screeched indignantly. “Grooves, I know you well enough to-“

“Know me?” His voice was almost at a whisper. His flipper gripped the edge of the table. “You don’t know me, Conductor.”

Something in the penguin’s voice shook The Conductor to the very core, but he continued on anyways. “Bull-“

“Shut it.” Every word was laced with venom. “You don’t know anything about me. You know peck all about anything!” The tone and volume of his voice as well as the uncharacteristic swearing left The Conductor speechless. DJ Grooves shoved himself up from the table, avoiding eye contact. This was nothing like their usual fights. Usually, The Conductor was the one doing most of the screaming.

Something was still wrong. Very, very wrong. Everything about this was wrong.

Before the owl could even process what was happening, his rival was towering over him, eyes dark and cold underneath the shades. “Do you really think, after all this time, all these years of fighting and battling each other, that you can just pretend everything’s normal? We’ve been at this for ages, but you’ve made it clear that you know nothing, Conductor. Nothing about me.”

And with that, DJ Grooves backed up and left.

The Conductor stood still for a minute, shell shocked. His racked his brain for any idea of what Grooves had been talking about, but to no avail. Sure, their relationship had never been…something to aspire to, but wasn’t the point of this whole movie to try and fix at least a few of their problems?

…Maybe DJ Grooves never really saw it like that. Maybe that wasn’t something he wanted.

Spinning around, The Conductor started digging through the desk’s various drawers and cabinets.

Their peace never lasted…

...Damnit, he had a bottle of beer or something in here somewhere…

After finally finding a single brown bottle stashed who knows how long ago, The Conductor started towards his room so he could mope in private. However, when the glint of the wastebasket in the corner caught his eye, he paused.

Snatching up the crumpled paper DJ Grooves left yesterday, he made his way out.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a long night, and The Conductor could tell it was going to be a long morning, too.

Hunched over his desk in his office, the owl clutched a quickly-chilling cup of coffee (which he may or may not have given a little “kick”) and squinted down at the piece of paper he’d fished from the waste bin last night. The extensive erasing of the scribbled words and the tears in the paper had caused made whatever Grooves had written down difficult to decipher. The situation wasn’t helped by the crumpling of the paper warping the words.

A beat-up, dusty notebook rested in his lap, opened to the first page. It had been all but covered with chicken scratch notes, copying down the few legible letters he could make out from the penguin’s note. On the top of the page, he had managed to get “sp_c_ dy_t__i_n? western st__e to__ w_th mo____ p___s?” This part seemed to be about the movie, but the farther he went down the page, the more personal it seemed to get.

“Can’t get my _ra__ to ____ why is _hi_ so _ar_? Why _m _ s_ n_rv___? I don’t wanna _____ about _i_ but i _an_ stop. He’s go___ ____ ____.” The writing became smaller and more scrambled before morphing into a giant scribbled circle covering almost the rest of the page. The Conductor wondered how he hadn’t seen that on the paper when he first arrived in the conference room, even if it was faded from being erased. From there, only one sentence was left, scrawled into a blank space in the torn lower right corner: “W__ d_ _ _o__ ___?”

The Conductor groaned, running a hand through the feathers on the top of his head. He didn’t have the energy or the sobriety to speculate over every single possible letter that could fit into those blanks. Not to mention, today was supposed to be their first day on set, getting a feel for the props and starting to form a coherent plot. Given how yesterday went, however, it was pretty unlikely that things would actually work out the way they were supposed to. Stumbling out of the chair and straightening out his suit, the owl went over last night’s fight in his head, trying to figure out where everything had gone downhill. He’d spent a good portion of the night tossing and turning in his bed, wondering what he’d said or done wrong. And what did Grooves mean by The Conductor not knowing him? Sure, they’d never exactly been friends, but…they’d been working in the same studio for years…

A knock on the door caused The Conductor to jump, the shaky voice of an express owl informing him that they were waiting for him on set before skittering off. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the owl downed a glass of water in hopes of sobering up a little before heading on his way.

Upon arriving in DJ Grooves’ side of the studio, where all of the props had been moved to, The Conductor instantly noticed the same feeling of wrong from last night hovering in the air. The place was chaotic, but in an almost frantic way rather than just being busy. The usually relaxed moon penguins had an obvious tension about them as they moved to and fro, shooting him sideways glances as they zipped past. In the middle of it all, DJ Grooves sat in a directors chair with his back to The Conductor, quietly speaking with a moon penguin in a white suit.

Ignoring the twisted feeling in his throat, The Conductor made his way over to his rival. Seeing him approach, the white-garbed moon penguin frantically whispered something to his boss, who only gave a mute nod in return. Gathering his courage, The Conductor stepped into DJ Grooves’ line of sight. The penguin stared right past him.

“DJ Grooves.” The Conductor tried to act normal (whatever normal was for them) in hopes that they’d just continue on with their lives the same way they usually did after their fights. In the back of his mind, the owl knew it would be in vain; this situation was so far from their normal. Grooves remained completely unmoving, beak sealed shut. The moon penguin in the white suit shuffled awkwardly.

“Are we seriously back to this?” The Conductor asked, meaning to sound exasperated, but his words were tinged with distress instead. He swore he saw DJ Grooves twitch. “Listen, I don’t know what happened last night, but yer-“ DJ Grooves cut the other off with a snap of his fingers. Instantly, the other moon penguin was by his boss’ side. The former DJ muttered something to his actor, voice low and emotionless. The smaller penguin nodded and turned to face The Conductor, fidgeting with his sunglasses a bit.

“The…the boss says that he-“

“ARE YE PECKING KIDDING ME?!” The Conductor snarled, gaze swerving back and forth between the two other birds, not sure who to direct his anger towards. “I’m not gonna play telephone, Grooves! We’re trying to shoot a movie here! Yer gonna have to talk to me!” DJ Grooves didn’t even flinch. The other penguin hesitated for a moment before turning to see if Grooves had any other messages.

“Uh, b-“

“AH, PECK OFF WITH YA!”

The moon penguin booked it. He wasn’t nearly as scared of The Conductor as the express owls, but only an idiot would want to stick around and continue agitating him when he was already this angry. Even after that whole ordeal, DJ Grooves remained a living statue. The Conductor stared him down for a minute, eyes narrowed, before his patience ran out. 

“Ye know what? Fine.” If Grooves wanted to be childish, two could play at that game. “I’ll just make ye talk to me.” Turning on his heel, The Conductor pranced across the set, knocking over as many props as he possibly could on his way.

“Whoops!” Conductor called out dramatically, making a show of tipping over a couple of (probably expensive) lights while maintaining eye contact with his rival. Nothing. He went a little bigger, scooping up a stray cowboy hat that was resting on a speaker and approaching a moon penguin that was fiddling with a camera.

“Hey Grooves!” He shouted. “I’m gonna give the moon penguins cowboy hats!” He swept the normal fedora off the employee, ignoring the squawk he received in return and shoving the cowboy hat on him. “Is that okaaaaaay?” Even the singsong voice didn’t get a visible rise out of the penguin. Deciding to go straight to the source, The Conductor made his way back over to DJ Grooves, staring him down the entire time. He stopped just before the directors chair and eyed him for a moment longer. Maybe this would annoy him enough…

Without warning, The Conductor hoisted himself up onto the chair, bracketing the penguin’s legs with his own. At this, DJ Grooves pressed himself back in the chair, giving a small, sharp inhale. The corners of the owl’s mouth twitched up into a victorious smirk. Hoping to agitate him farther, Conductor got right in his face, almost to the point where he could see DJ Grooves’ eyes through his shades. The other’s flippers slowly curled into fists.

“Aw, what’s the matter? Ye-“

The Conductor’s teasing was cut short when he was suddenly swung around, shoulders hitting the back of the chair. Bewildered, he glanced up at the other, only then realizing they’d essentially swapped places. DJ Grooves’ sunglasses had fallen slightly from his face, pitch-black eyes flashing between numerous emotions, none of them even close to the anger or annoyance Conductor expected. DJ Grooves shot back from the director’s chair like it was on fire, stumbling on the step down. He haphazardly shoved his shades back into place before turning to glare at the owl.

“This is exactly what I was talking about.” He snapped, robotically straightening his jacket before making a beeline for the exit.

All The Conductor could do was turn and watch him leave, shellshocked.


	5. Chapter 5

.....

He wiped the dirt from the old ball before kicking it up in the air again, watching it hover a few feet above the ground before plopping back down. Sand rained down along with it. His mother squawked, hurriedly dusting off her soiled skirt before glaring at her son.

“Austin, you have the whole field to play in. Do you really have to make a mess right here?” She huffed, turning back to her book before the owl had a chance to respond. He snatched up his ball before shuffling farther out into the lot. It was rather empty for a bright and sunny day, making the normally crowded and noisy area feel abandoned. Unsure of what to do with himself, Austin kicked the ball into the air once more, some clumps of half-dead grass coming up with it. This time, the beat-up ball rolled away from him, so he followed it, then kicked it up again.

He repeated this pattern until he was absolutely filthy, and there was barely a spot of ground the ball hadn’t disturbed. Bored, Austin decided to go and kick his ball against the chainlink fence in the back of the lot. At least that would make a fun noise. Upon carrying it over, however, he found something odd. The bramble bushes in the corner kept shifting ever-so-slightly, and there was no wind to speak of. Curious, the owl slowly snuck over, trying to catch a glance of whatever critter had wormed it’s way in there. Maybe this time, if he caught it, his mom would let him keep it!

But then the bush sniffled, and Austin was immediately confused. Looking around, all the kids that had been here earlier were already gone, leaving only himself and his mom. If there was another kid here, where were their parents? Concerned, he decided to investigate, getting on his knees and poking his beak through the brambles. He was met with a muffled squeak, and he pushed his whole head through the brush to see who was there.

Austin was surprised to lay eyes on the ruffled blue feathers of a moon penguin. They’d only recently started popping up on this planet, and there were barely any so close to the devilish heat of the equator, much less out in the desert!

Getting over the initial shock, Austin noticed that the bird had obviously been crying. The knees of his overalls were caked in dirt, and a couple stray twigs were stuck in his hair. Austin crawled the rest of the way through, and the penguin hid his face behind his flippers. The owl was unfazed; his sister was pretty shy too. He went and sat next to the other bird, ducking to avoid the brambles.

“Hi,” he made sure to speak softly, not wanting to scare the other. “Are ye lost?” A long pause followed the question, but eventually the moon penguin shook his head, his face still buried in his arms.

“N-no,” he stuttered, “I’m not lost.”

“What’s the matter, then?” Austin pulled his ball into his lap. No answer came.

Thinking for a bit, the owl scooted back a few feet before placing the ball in front of him and pushing it. The dirty rubber rolled lazily forward, tapping the penguin’s leg. He looked up, gaze shifting back and forth between the toy and Austin, looking for any sign of mockery. Finding none, he reached out a shaky flipper and rolled the ball back.

Austin picked it up again, this time tossing it a little, letting it bounce on the ground before rolling to a stop in front of the other. The penguin mimicked him, carefully watching Austin’s reaction the entire time. Austin gave him the biggest, most sincere smile he could muster. The other bird’s face flushed red, and his gaze shot to the ground. The owl beamed; he wasn’t crying anymore!

“I’m Austin.” he announced, happily tossing the ball.

“…I…I’m Dominic.” he seemed to force the words out, but received the ball with far less fumbling than he had the last few passes. 

“…Dom-ic?” Austin tried.

“N-no, uh, Dom-in-ic.”

“Dommmmmnic?”

“Dom-in-ic.”

“…Dommmmminnnic?”

“Yeah, like that!” Dominic sounded relieved, but yet he still didn’t smile. Austin made it his goal to get a smile out of him sometime during that conversation.

“S-sorry, I know the name’s kinda weird…” the penguin rubbed the back of his neck. His flipper knocked against one of the branches in his hair and he flinched.

“No, it's not! It's cool! Here, hold still,” Austin crawled towards him until he was right in front of the other bird, then slowly reached out and plucked the twigs from his hair. Once again, Dominic was red-faced, and tried to look at anything but Austin. Once he was done, the owl shuffled back and dusted his hands off. Flashing another smile, he grabbed the ball and pushed his way outside of the brambles.

“Come on!” he exclaimed, “Lets go play!”

There was a beat of silence before the brush shuffled again and Dominic popped out, carefully pushing himself up as to not get anything else stuck in his hair. From there, Austin grabbed his flipper and ran, excited to play his favorite games with his new friend.

“Woah!” Dominic gasped, but quickly caught up with the owl, peering around curiously.

From there, the two birds spent hours upon hours just spending time doing whatever they thought up. At first, they restarted their game of catch, but they quickly grew bored. They chased each other breathless during a game of tag, then flopped to the ground and began pointing out shapes in the scarce clouds. They dug random holes in the dirt and compared pretty rocks they’d uncovered. Austin gave all his rocks to Dominic, who’s eyes lit up, but he still didn’t smile. They’d been using a stick to poke a dead rat they found in a corner of the field when a shrill voice called Dominic’s name.

The penguin froze, He paled a bit, dropping the stick and scurrying to his feet before shooting across the yard. Confused, Austin ran after him. Standing near the bench where his mother had been sitting was a harried-looking female moon penguin. Her faintly-wrinkled eyes narrowed as she wrung her hands, but her whole being dropped in a sigh of relief once she saw her son.

“Dominic!” she cried, grabbing both his shoulders once he was close enough. “Where have you been?! I was worried sick! Do you know how close I was to calling the police? Out here all alone, don’t you know what could’ve happened to you-“

“He wasn’t alone, he was with me!” Austin proclaimed, glad to have stumbled into the conversation at a part where he could help. The new penguin turned her stern gaze to him, looking him up and down skeptically.

Sensing a possible argument, Austin’s mother jumped up, “Oh, I’m sorry for my son. I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm-“ The female moon penguin’s stare had hardened into something angry as she faced the other woman, and Austin saw his mother’s stance turn cold and wary.

“…I’m sure they were just playing.” Austin’s mother spoke as if daring the other to challenge that statement. An excruciating beat of silence hung in the air before the female penguin sniffed and spun on her heel, grabbing her son’s hand and dragging him along.

“…Come on, Austin,” the owl’s mother spoke slowly, grabbing both his shoulders and leading him along, “We should go.”

Despite the tension, Austin couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder, only to find his new friend doing the same, trying to apologize to Austin with his eyes. Hoping to make him feel better, both from what just happened and whatever was bothering him before, Austin gave a toothy grin and waved.

Finally, Dominic smiled back.

.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to anybody on the discord that was expecting this chapter to be something else, the whole thing kinda got away from me. It was still so much fun to write though! The thing i mentioned there will happen next chapter instead. Sorry for any disappointment!


	6. Chapter 6

If Grooves had been ignoring him before, Conductor might as well be nonexistent now.

After forty-five minutes of gathering up props and fixing the mess Conductor had made yesterday (all of which without Grooves saying a word), Conductor realized that the lights he broke had no replacements on the main level, and they would need to get new ones from the basement. So, with no words between the two, they loaded up in the elevator and made their descent. 

Their shared basement had always been a convoluted mess. Unlike the studio above, it wasn’t neatly separated into two sections. While Conductor was a bird of neatness and order, DJ Grooves was not, and it wasn’t long before the boxes of props stacked as high as the ceiling, and neither of the two knew which boxes were theirs and which belonged to the other. Anymore, if they needed any props that they couldn't immediately find, they usually just ordered new ones. This was not the best system to have, financially speaking.

The Conductor was pulled from his thoughts by the lights in the elevator flickering. He glanced up just in time to watch them fizzle out completely, and the elevator’s descent stuttered to a halt.

…

Oh. Oh no.

OH PECK NO!!!!!!

Trying not to let his internal panic show, Conductor continued to stare up at the lights, hoping that whatever just happened would only last a moment, and everything would start up again. The lights remained dark, and the elevator itself didn’t move an inch.Taking a breath, The Conductor forced himself to turn, ever-so-slightly, to the other bird, hoping to gauge his reaction.

Any emotion Grooves was showing in that moment was completely masked by his shades. He was also looking up at the lights, beak pressed firmly together. With a sigh, the penguin turned around and went to lean against the back wall, still refusing to acknowledge The Conductor. With a sigh, the owl walked over to the panel and pressed the call button before settling himself in the opposite corner. This could be a long hour or two.

~~~  
Or three hours, it seemed.

The lights had come back on about an hour ago, but the elevator was still stuck. The two remained in their opposite corners, but Grooves’ hardened face had softened as time went on. He’d even been giving the other a few furtive glances, but at this point, Conductor was too pissed over being ignored for so long. Let’s see how Grooves likes a taste of his own medicine, eh?

The tense silence hung in the air for about fifteen minutes longer before DJ Grooves sighed, lifting his head to face him directly. The Conductor stiffened, keeping his gaze fixed on the wall to his left. Surely any stain or tear in the paint he found would be more interesting than his rival. And the way his brows were furrowed. And the regret in his eyes that shone even through the glasses. And the way his fists were clenched. And-

“Darling,” Grooves began, and Conductor’s forced his gaze upward, a hiss escaping his mouth. Why was his head spinning? Why did Grooves sound so broken? Why’d he chose to use that stupid, stupid petname over his real one?! Grooves’ mouth opened again, and The Conductor scrambled for a way out of the situation.

His eyes landed on the fire extinguisher mounted on the wall near the panel. Without thinking, he ripped it from the wall and swung it over his head, turning to face the elevator doors with newfound fury. Letting out a screech, he let the fire extinguisher pummel down against the door, only managing to scrape some paint off it. With a growl, he raised it again, only to be cut off.

“Conductor, what on earth are you doing?” Grooves was now in the middle of the elevator, arm outstretched, gaze flashing between the other bird and the door. He kept making small steps back and forth, as if unsure on whether to actually confront him or not. The Conductor snarled and continued his weak attempts at breaking down the door. The few meager marks he made only served to agitate him more.

He ran out of energy fast, however, and the makeshift weapon fell from his hands as he panted. Grooves had moved to rest against the wall to the right of the door, watching the owl warily.

“Conductor, darling,” Grooves slowly began, “Even if you did manage to break open that door, there’d be nothing but concrete wall on the other side. We’re nowhere near either floor.” Eyes narrowed, The Conductor went to retrieve the extinguisher and continue his assault, if only to piss off his rival, but was pulled back by his arm. Indignant, the owl swung around, only to be shocked into silence by the utter look of defeat on the penguins face.

“…Austin-“

“Don’t call me that!” Conductor snapped, yanking his arm away. With nowhere else to turn his anger, he merely glared wordlessly at the door. He noted in the back of his mind that they were both standing in the same place they’d started. Grooves walked to the rightmost wall and sat down, patting the space next to him after a moment. Conductor turned his head away, pretending he hadn’t seen the gesture.

“Conductor, darling, won’t you come over here?”

“…”

“…It’s high time we talked, don’t you think?”

Conductor didn’t think so. Half the time, when they talked, they fought, and The Conductor honestly didn’t want things to end up worse than they were now. They still had a movie to make together (unless Grooves was ready to go back on his end of the promise) and the more tension there was between them, the harder everything else would be. Couldn’t they just let it be something that happened, something that didn’t need addressing, like all their other arguments?

…But nothing about what had happened lately was anything close to normal. He’d come to that conclusion several times now. To begin with, both of them trying to work together was far from the norm, so of course everything that followed would be strange. He couldn’t expect their relationship to proceed as it always had when their environment and everything they were aiming for was completely different. So he couldn’t act like he always had…and he couldn’t expect Grooves to, either. If they just let…whatever Grooves’ outburst was…hang in the air, it would just fester. Nothing would get done. Nothing would improve. They wouldn’t improve.

He found it strange, almost laughable, how much their positions had changed over the years. Way back in the early days, DJ Grooves was such a small, shy little thing. Heh, he never would’ve been the first to address something as daunting as this!-…Of course, The Conductor wasn’t supposed to remember that, though.

For the first time in perhaps their whole careers, The Conductor resigned himself to Grooves’ will, and took a seat next to him on the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

Even after coming to terms with his own internal turmoil, he still found himself hesitating when it came to actually fixing anything. Grooves’ confidence from a few minutes earlier had vanished into thin air. He was silently leaning against the wall, his head turned straight forward. From the corner of his vision, The Conductor squinted, trying to make out his rival’s eyes from underneath his sunglasses. Was he really looking ahead of him, avoiding the owl’s gaze? Or were his eyes averted, unsure of the next step? Or, the most unlikely yet, was he looking right at The Conductor?

The Conductor startled, realizing that, while lost in thought, he had turned to face DJ Grooves, peering right at him without saying a single word. Hastily, he turned the other way, his back almost facing Grooves. Nervously, he drew his legs up, resting his arm along his knees and clearing his throat. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to end this unbearable silence, and finally just…figure this out.

“Conductor…”

The bird in question jumped, head swinging to face the other. His jaw went slack and his eyes widened.

DJ Grooves had taken his shades off.

Was this only the second time he’d seen the penguin without them? It felt just as shocking as the first. When The Conductor couldn’t see his eyes, it was easier to write him off as aloof, careless, self-centered, even…

(Not that the same couldn’t be said about himself, given the lass…)

But his small, olive-black eyes held so much emotion, so much that Conductor couldn’t read, it was honestly a shock to his system. Every time the owl could see his eyes, whether it be through his shades or without them, he could never identity the feeling they were trying so hard to convey, the emotion brimming just underneath the surface. And if he couldn’t know that, then how much did he really know about Grooves?

'You don’t know me, Conductor.' ...That's what he'd said before, wasn't it?

The owl cringed, fixing his gaze on his lap. 

…He really didn’t know anything about him, did he? Not anything that really mattered.

“I’m sorry-“

Both birds froze, staring at each other incredulously before dissolving into chuckles and snickers. Really? Did they really just both say that at the same time? Honestly, how cliché could this get? First they get stuck together in a broken elevator, now this? The whole scenario was playing out like some cheesy romance movie-

The Conductor froze mid-thought. Where had that come from? Something in some small part of him clicked. But it wasn't quite a feeling, no…a realization? An understanding? The longer he dwelled on it, the more confused he got, so he brushed it off for the time being.

“But, seriously, darling,” Grooves voice drew The Conductor from his thoughts. His voice was low and scratchy, as if trying to hold something back. “I really am sorry. I know I haven’t been…myself these last few days. And it wasn’t fair of me to blame it on you. It wasn’t your fault, darling, it’s…all on me, really.” Shakily, Grooves laid his sunglasses to his side, as if surrendering. The tears at the edges of his eyes threatened to spill over.

Conductor still had no idea what was going on in the penguin’s mind, but it didn’t feel right to stand by and do nothing. Wordlessly, he shuffled closer. His hand reached forward ever-so-slightly, hesitating only for a moment before coming to rest on top of DJ Grooves’ flipper. Grooves looked at the other, shocked, but The Conductor couldn’t bring himself to meet the others’ eyes. He feigned interest in his free hand instead. A stray tear rolled down Grooves’ face, but he was smiling.

“I wish I could explain myself, darling, I really wish I could. But I…I’m not ready yet. And I don’t think you are, either.” At that, The Conductor peered back up at him, eyebrow raised, but the pain laced in DJ Grooves’ eyes stopped him from questioning it further. At least he was starting to pick up on some bits of emotion. That was a step forward, right? Grooves leaned into him, and Conductor sucked in an involuntary breath. His instinct was to snap at him, but…

The penguins eyes had fallen shut, letting out a relaxed sigh, and any show of aggression The Conductor was preparing went out the window. A new silence rested in the air, but this one was comfortable, calming even. 

“Grooves?” Conductor was surprised by the softness of his own voice. No reply came, and a quick glance at the other director confirmed he’d fallen asleep. Without the shades on, the dark bags underneath his eyes were clearly visible. The Conductor frowned. Had this whole situation been weighing on him that badly? 

Conductor ran his free hand along the back of his neck. Clearly, whatever was bothering the former DJ, Conductor was involved. Grooves had said he didn’t think he was ready to hear his explanation, but what exactly did he have to be ready for?

The flipper underneath Conductor’s right hand shifted up to cling to his wrist, and the owl’s train of thought dissolved. With a sigh, he checked to make sure the call button was still lit up. It must have been close to four hours now; surely some express owl or moon penguin had been informed and come to work on it? …Unless the receptionist had zoned out again and failed to notice the little red emergency light being on. If that was the case, it could be another few hours still. The Conductor groaned, rubbing his face with his free hand. They really needed a new receptionist.

Careful to not disturb the other, Conductor reached around and grabbed the penguin’s sunglasses. He might not know Grooves as well as he thought he did, but he knew for sure that he wouldn’t want anybody to see his eyes, and it was no guarantee that he’d wake up before help arrived. With no small amount of difficulty, he maneuvered the shades back onto Grooves face without poking an eye out. Letting out a huff of relief, Conductor turned his gaze up to the overhead lights, resting back against the wall.

Before he knew it, he had drifted off as well.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so sorry my hiatus took so long! I just started college and it kinda messed me up. But here it is! Chapter 8! I can't promise this is the restart of a consistent update schedule, but I'm gonna try my hardest to not have a gap so long again! Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Conductor awoke with a start when his shoulder was jostled.

Blinking, he sat up, facing one of his express owls. The other bird avoided his eye. Remembering what had happened before he fell asleep, Conductor swung his head to the side, expecting to see DJ Grooves still resting on his shoulder, or at least somewhere in the elevator, trying to come up with some story to save face.

…But he wasn’t there.

“He…” began the express owl, stuttering for a bit when his boss' attention snapped back to him. “…left already.”

With a huff, The Conductor got to his feet, groaning as his back throbbed in complaint. He really wasn’t getting any younger, was he?

“Did he say anything?” Conductor asked, stretching himself out in hopes of relieving some of the aching in his joints.

“Ah, nope, nothing.” The owl glanced back at the open elevator doors. “Or, well, not really. Just that he didn’t wanna wake you up.”

Conductor’s hand subconsciously went to the shoulder Grooves had been leaning on, surprised to find it was still a little warm. He wanted to ignore the thud his heart made just thinking about it, but…he couldn’t. If he was worried about Grooves before, he was only a feather away from terrified now. Sure, the dust had settled, and everything was fine between them now. But, apparently, there was a lot more “between them” than Conductor had realized.

Something so little in Conductor’s eyes had set Grooves off for well over a day. Conductor couldn’t just write that off, not anymore. He wanted to understand DJ Grooves better. He really did. So he couldn’t just file that away, figure it was just Grooves being Grooves. Not if he actually wanted to get to a point where their understanding of each other was mutual.

This whole conversation had helped them both, definitely. But Conductor had yet to address the elephant in the room. They’d brushed over what caused the penguin to react the way that he did. Sure, it was Grooves who’d tiptoed around it, said he wasn’t ready to say it. But he’d also said he didn’t think Conductor was ready to hear it. The owl couldn’t push the issue. Couldn’t force the words from Grooves’ mouth, not without going back on everything they’d worked for.

But he couldn’t leave Grooves alone with it. It was clearly something that included both of them. Something that The Conductor might have caused, as unsettling of a thought that may be. True, he couldn’t force Grooves through progress, but he could make progress himself. He could become ready to hear whatever DJ Grooves had to say.

…Somehow.

Without another word to the express owl, The Conductor made his way out of the elevator. He couldn’t go face Grooves right now. His mind was racing a mile a minute, and he had a feeling Grooves left early to avoid conversation with him as well. They could talk in the morning, when they had to work on the movie-really, actually work on the movie-and they’d had time to calm down. For now. Conductor made a beeline for his room, gaining plenty of weird looks from any staff wandering the halls. He didn’t even know he was smiling.

Slamming the door shut behind him, the owl threw himself into his desk chair, filled with energy of an unknown origin that he didn’t care to question. He corked the open bottle of wine on the desk and shoved it into a random drawer. None of that tonight, he needed the desk space and he needed to focus. 

The still unsolved bits of the letter laid before him. Far more determined than before, The Conductor got out a new piece of paper and began furiously scribbling word possibilities. If he wanted to understand Grooves, this was the best source at his disposal at the moment (other than actually talking to him, of course, but he figured that would take more time.)

~~~

Conductor had no idea how long he’d been working until the sound of somebody’s voice distracted him.

Curiously glancing up from his page, his strained eyes shifted over to the clock. Apparently, the evening had moved well into the night, and he’d been at this for five hours.

Whoops.

The sound caught his attention once again, and this time he could identify it as being Grooves’ voice. The Conductor got up and shuffled out of his room. The hallways were pitch dark, so he felt along the walls. The closer he drew to the source, the more disconnected he felt from himself, as if he weren’t the one controlling what he was doing.

He found himself in front of the door to the reception area. Quietly, he pushed the door open, just a sliver, and peeked out. Grooves was sitting on top of the reception desk, facing straight ahead. He was lit by the full moon shining through the studio’s glass doors. Belatedly, Conductor realized he was singing. He didn’t recognize the song at all; not that he would expect to, given how different his tastes are than DJ Grooves’. But this was so different from the high-energy drivel usually blasting from the other side of the studio. It was something softer, more melodious, and Conductor found himself clinging to every note of it.

He tried to listen to the words, commit them to memory, hoping to look it up later. No matter how hard he tried, however, he kept getting lost in the song, in the sound of Grooves’ voice, and all the phrases he tried to memorize blended together. Had Conductor ever heard the penguin sing before? Surely he had at some point, right? Grooves used to be a DJ; he had a whole career in music, even if he wasn’t necessarily making it. Not to mention how big of a role music took up in the other bird’s movies. Still, the owl couldn’t think of a single occasion where he heard DJ Grooves sing.

With a voice like that, he was pretty sure he’d remember it if he’d heard it before.

The Conductor was so lost in thought that he failed to pay attention to the scene before him, only just realizing Grooves had stopped singing. His lack of concentration caused him to lean on the door a little too hard, and it creaked under his weight.

Grooves swung around, but Conductor was already long gone, booking it down the hallway. DJ Grooves hopped down from the counter, about to go after him, but he stopped dead just before the door. Did he really want to see Conductor again tonight? Was he ready? 

After a long moment of hesitation, Grooves turned and headed back towards his end of the studio instead, his already cluttered mind swimming with a feeling he’d been pushing under the surface for years.

…Yes, he’d been dealing with this for years, so why did it feel so different now?

~~~

Conductor once again slammed the door to his bedroom shut, gasping for air. Why the hell did he do that?! How in the world was he going to look Grooves in the eye tomorrow? Shaking, he went and laid down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Even with the consequences of his actions looming over him, his mind drifted back to Grooves. His voice, the moonlight, the way he looked-

Confronted with that thud in his heart once more, Conductor turned and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to drown the unfamiliar feeling in his sleep.


End file.
